When is sound considered as merely noise?

Answer 1

There are questions that can be answered easily, and there are questions which may admit of no answer at all.

This is one of them.

When I was a kid, it was easy: Music was pitched, rhythmic, 'made sense' and usually fit (or could be shoehorned into) one of the standard "forms." Noise was unpitched, possibly rhythmic, but not likely to have a melody recognizable in it.

Music groups made music; construction sites made noise.

Then world music began to be considered with equal (or more) importance than the Western Canon. With gamelon music came sounds that we might have considered noise, from striking objects of different sizes. Some of them had non-harmonic overtone structures, which made it harder to claim that the results were explicitly 'pitched', and yet, melody could be easily discerned. Most of non-Western-Canon music is monophonic or heterophonic, with the differentiation required to keep the listener from getting bored coming in timbre (tone) and rhythmic variation.

More eastern music influences caused things like drones (previously barely accepted as Ostinato, and not considered seriously as, for instance, drones on Bagpipes) became common. Further, with the introduction of electronic synthesizers into the musical battery of instruments, the ability to take electronic noise (defined as various distributions of power to all frequencies at once) and filter it to make it sound pitchy without actually making a harmonic structure at all, gave rise to a genre of popular/minimalist-like music that is specifically called "noise music."

Although this still might have allowed dividing lines to be drawn between what was music and what was noise, a set of patents on using rocket motors with tuned exhaust pipes, recordings of music performed on samples of obvious noise (or dogs barking, gathered into a pitched keyboard voicing) and serious composition using construction equipment has forever ended the idea that something could be explicitly called "music" and totally separated from something slightly different that could be explicitly identified as noise.

So at this point, distinguishing between noise and music has moved to the realm of psycho-acoustics, and out of the realm of music. Even there, it's no easy job!

Answer 2

when different frequencies/pitches of sound can produce a sensation of hearing is music . Noise is just a random, uncontrolled jumble of sound.Compare a vehicle passing in the road to an orchestra playing.

Answer 3

a noise is a unorganised sound, while music is organized

Answer 4

Personally I dont think so.

But scientifically speaking, noise is any electric or acoustic activity that can disturb communication.

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Answer 5

music is pleasant to hear while noise is irritating

Answer 6

No, music has to have a steady beat and a rhythmic pattern while noise can be anything from radio static to talking.

Answer 7

If I yell on you it would be a loud noise...

but if I play a sweet tune on piano....

IT WOULD BE MUSIC